Improvement in hoop-locks



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

G. N. BEARD, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

IMPROVEMENT IN HOOP-LOCKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 58,760, dated October 16, 1866.

.To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, GEORGE N. BEARD, of St. Louis, in the county ol" St. Louis and State of' Missouri, have invented a new and useful Improvement in HoopLocks for Got-ton- Bales; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and clear description thereof, reference bein g had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

Figure l of the accompanying drawings is a plan of the improved lock, showing the mode of attaching it to the hoops. Fig.2 is a similar plan, showing the two hoops connected together. Fig. 3 is a horizontal vertical section of the lock, and also ot' the two ends ot' the hoop.

The nature of this invention consists in constructing a lock so that the end of the hoop whichis to be taken up by it need not be punched, out, or otherwise subjected to any mechanical preparation to t it; but the hoop may be inserted into the lock at any desired point by slipping it in edgewise, after which the pressure ot' the bale as it expands upon 1.,. the hoop after being taken from the press will act upon the hoop to straighten it, and in so doing the hoop will press against the sharp corners of the lock through which it passes, and thereby be prevented from pulling out ot' said lock.

The advantages of a lock of this construe tion over those now in use are, that it will take a firm hold upon the hoop without weakening the hoop by cutting into it to make fast, and also the manufacture of bale-hoops will be cheapened, as lighter iron may be used, and the entire strength of it employed unweakened by punching.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my improved hoop-lock, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A is the lock, which is intended to fasten the two ends ot' the hoop, B and O, together. The loclepiece is formed ot' a single'piece of either wrought or cast metal, and may be attached to the end ofthe hoop B either, as represented in the drawings, by means of the rivet a, or it may be inserted through the mortise al anddoubled back around the solid part, which is perforated for the rivet a.

The mortise al is a rectangular orifice through the lock-piece, as clearly shown in Fig. 1, with the exception of one angle, which is merged into the curved slot a2, ruiming back into the plate toward the solid part ot' it, which is occupied by the rivet a.. The curved slot a3 connects the mortise al with the outside or forward end of the lock-piece.

The lock-piece being fastened to the hoop B by riveting or any equivalent means, all that it will be necessary to do to couple the end C to it will be to draw the two ends as close together as possible and insert one edge of the piece C into the curved slot a3 and press it down into the curved slot a2, which should be cut sufficiently deep to take in the whole ot' the width of the band between its back end and the point a, formed at the junction ofthe mortise al and the slot a3. As soon as the band is far enough in to pass the point a* it will be passed below the said point and turned up into the contiguous end ot' the inortise a1,into which it may be shoved, after which the edge ofthe band which was first entered into the slot a3 will pass straight up into the mortise al and rest aga-inst the front edge of it.

The press may then be released from the bale and allow it to press outward against the hoop, and the end of the hoop O being inside the hoop B, as represented in Fig. 3, will be pressed outward by the 'expanding force of the bale, and will at the same time be drawn tightly' over the sharp corners o o o, which will prevent it from slipping out of the lock.

Thus, it will be seen that the entire strength of the hoop C can be employed, as it is not cut into or punched for the purpose of making it fast to the lock, as is now the case with the most of the practical bale-locks in present use. By the use of the present improvement much more rapid work may be performed in placing the hoops upon the bales.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim therein as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

A hoop-lock, formed with a rectangular slot, al, connecting with and forming a part of curved slots a2 and a3, substantiallylin the manner and for the purpose herein set forth.

. G. N. BEARD.

Witnesses:

GEO. P. HERTHEL, Jr., JNO. RANDOLPH. 

